


(Please) Bring Honor To Us All

by your_royal_momoness



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Mutual Pining, azula as the manipulative bench we all know and love, but now in lizard size! have fun azula!, i've never written anything before so be nice, oh wow zuko is that unresolved trauma in your eyes?, ok well there's mulan parts to it, ozai can choke in this au as well, relationship tags will be added as the story progresses - Freeform, secret enemies to friends to lovers, sokka is the li shang himbo of our dreams, thank goodness he has his bestie longshot to bounce ideas off of, the mulan au no one asked for, toph just being an absolute unit, zuko has a lot of angst here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:39:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26332771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/your_royal_momoness/pseuds/your_royal_momoness
Summary: Zuko’s purpose in life had been drilled into his head since he could understand the words (and most likely even before that). He was the only son of a wrongfully banished prince of the once-mighty Fire Nation. He was the rightful heir to the throne. He would aid his father in overtaking the very nation that had cast him out for thinking differently, for wanting more, for trying to do what was best for his country. At least, that’s what he was always led to believe.OrThe Mulan AU no one asked for
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 63





	(Please) Bring Honor To Us All

**Author's Note:**

> many thanks to everyone on tumblr who loved my Mulan joke enough to make me actually write something. These chapters will be short to ensure you actually get them on a semi-regular basis. No, I do not know what I'm doing. This has not been beta'd so help me god.
> 
> Many thanks to those who helped bring this idea to fruition!  
> motherofturtleducks (@motherofturtleducks on tumblr)  
> nancynotruth (@thenoteworthyhelen on tumblr)  
> panini_the_bird_killer (@panini-the-bird-killer on tumblr)
> 
> come scream at me on tumblr @your-royal-momoness

The moon shines bright above the forest and Zuko finds himself alone for the first time in days. Most of the rebels are asleep, on the ground or in the trees depending on their watch schedule, but Zuko is wide awake. He doesn’t think he could fall asleep if he tried. He’s too keyed up and has spent most of the day trying to distract himself from the internal debate he knows he needs to have. As it turns out, magical ghost lizards yelling at you about your destiny aren’t really conducive to a good night’s sleep. And what did some stupid apparition even know about his purpose? More than him? Absolutely not. 

Zuko’s purpose in life had been drilled into his head since he could understand the words (and most likely even before that). He was the only son of a wrongfully banished prince of the once-mighty Fire Nation. He was the rightful heir to the throne. He would aid his father in overtaking the very nation that had cast him out for thinking differently, for wanting _more_ , for trying to do what was best for his country. At least, that’s what he was always led to believe. Zuko had learned quickly not to outwardly question his purpose, to do so was on the same level as treason in the rebels’ eyes. 

(But he often felt that there were two sides of himself warring against each other. Two dragons fighting for dominance over his very soul.) 

One side wanted to believe his father. Believe in the rebels’ cause. Believe that the system had wronged his bloodline simply for questioning the order of things. The other side _knew_ what his father was capable of and didn’t trust him more than he trusted a rabaroo not to kick him in the face given the opportunity. 

He spent most of his life trying to ignore the part of him that mistrusted Ozai. Tried to focus instead on the injustice and the rage and the fire of passion that burned inside him - the fire that required the fight as much as it required the oxygen in Zuko’s lungs. That part, Zuko understood. That part, Zuko trusted to keep him alive. This other part? The part of him that whispered things like _home_ and _stability_ and _patience_ and _kindness_ and _love_? That part would get him killed. Then he wouldn’t even be able to live out his so-called destiny.

 _Destiny_.

Zuko _hated_ the word. Hated the implication that there was something out there that could have more control over his life than himself. And this freaky little lizard spirit was claiming to know his calling in life? Should have smashed the thing’s head in with a rock when he had the chance. 

“Hey kid! Stop freaking out, grab your shit, and let’s go!” 

Speak of the (tiny) devil.

Zuko turns to find the weird little, unnecessarily rude, ghost lizard walking up to him. She stops a few paces from him and crosses her arms, tapping her foot as if she’s been waiting on Zuko for centuries. 

“Look lizard ghost lady, you’re confused. I can’t do what you’re asking of me. That’s not who I am. Just leave me alone.” 

Zuko understood that the lizard was capable of stooping to such petty levels as pebble throwing, but he was not prepared for the speed and ferocity with which she threw them. 

“For the last time! My _name_ is Azula! And I am not a lizard! I’m a dragon! DRA-GON. I don’t do that tongue thing,” she hisses as she _continues_ to pelt the teenager with rocks. 

“If you’re a dragon, then why are you so tiny?” Zuko asks, keeping his arms firmly in front of his face.

“What is it with men and strength? You think the only way to win a war is with muscles.” Azula murmurs as she stops her assault. Zuko keeps his arms up, just in case.

Azula, in fact, was well aware of why she had been forced to live out her afterlife in this tiny joke of a body. But that was a story for another time, like never. She had more important things to focus on right now. Like getting this angsty ass kid to come with her so she could regain what had been stolen from her. But how?

Her greatest skill in her human life had been her charisma. It’s what allowed her to rise through the ranks of the Fire Nation military in a time when women were considered weak and soft-hearted. It’s what granted her access to areas of the palace even a princess was forbidden to enter. It’s what helped her convince the ancestors to give her a chance to restore not only her own honor but the royal family’s as well. At least, that’s what she told them she would do. And now she had to figure out a way to appeal to this whiny child who couldn’t see the forest for the Firelord’s throne. 

“Look kid, I need you. The ancestors need you. _Your country needs you_. If you come with me, we can fix the Fire Nation. We can right the wrongs committed on your father. But we can’t do them here. And we can’t do them alone.” Zuko looks at her, understanding a dull glow in his eyes. 

“You have bigger dreams than this army. You don’t want to spend your life fighting a war you don’t really believe in - a war you’re not _prepared_ to fight,” and boy, was he unprepared. This kid wouldn’t know deception if it screamed in his good ear. Didn’t seem to examine anything beyond the obvious lies his father had supplied him with from infancy. She would have questioned his lineage if it weren’t for the pure incandescent rage that simmered like lava just beneath the surface. 

“You’ve been fed lies your whole life, and it’s made you weak,” lightning flashed in his eyes as the lava started to boil over, as she knew it would if she could just find the right button to push. She’d have to teach him control along with everything else. 

“But I can make you strong. Strong enough to fight on whichever side you choose, though I hope you’ll choose to stand behind your family. If you want to learn the truth. If you want to learn how to fight _and how to win_ then we need to go now.” Azula stared at him, refusing to break first. Breaking meant she lacked confidence. She was just waiting for the petulance in Zuko’s eyes to turn to defeat.

3...2...1

“Fine. Just give me a minute,” he huffed as he stood up and walked back toward camp, Azula smirking behind him.

Zuko crept back into camp, thankful that his ever-ridiculed feminine walk made him incredibly light on his feet. He could sneak into a den full of pygmy-pumas and not be heard if he was so inclined. His gait was always a rousing joke to the rest of the rebels. Just another strike against him as far as they were concerned. A scarred firebender who couldn’t _really_ firebend wasn’t enough to make fun of. They had to call him _bouncy boy_ too. 

The leaders in Ozai’s army were bullies first and foremost. They believed tearing you down was the only way to strengthen you. Only once you were reduced to dirt were you ready to be rebuilt into a soldier. But no matter how much he was teased for it, Zuko was never able to kick the habit of walking mainly on his toes. He cared less about this now as he thought about leaving his makeshift home forever. Wherever Azula was taking him had to be better than this, had to be a place where he could make a name for himself. At the very least, he could come back to the rebels as a fully fledged fighter, capable of standing alongside his father, rather than being shoved into the shadows.

He walked through camp, grabbing his few belongings as he went. His father was out on a scounting mission and had taken some of Zuko’s supplies with him, claiming they would be put to better use in the hands of a _real_ soldier. Zuko was glad Ozai wasn’t there to catch him out, he knew he wouldn’t survive his father’s wrath if he had to face it a second time. 

Zuko walked to a tree at the edge of camp and made quick work of climbing up into its dense limbs. He sat on a branch opposite a young man whose limbs seemed to be growing faster than his body could keep up with, sleeping soundly, a bow and quiver locked in his arms. 

“Pssstt. Hey! Wake up, man!” Zuko whisper shouted at the boy who seemed to be having a rather rousing dream fight with someone called Unagi. Zuko flicked the boy in the ear harder than was necessary, but the boy woke with a glazed over, unstartled look in his eyes. He didn’t seem at all surprised to find someone else in his tree. At least not this particular someone else. He stared at his intruder, waiting for him to explain himself.

“Look, I can’t tell you why, at least not right now, but I’m leaving,” Zuko whispered quickly, eyes darting around at the camp of rebels beneath them. He glanced back up at the boy who was still holding his weapon tightly to his chest. “I need your answer now.”

The boy nodded. 

Zuko smiled.

After packing up the other boy’s things, they walked to the edge of camp, where Zuko’s horse, Kan was waiting for him. Kan always seemed to know things before Zuko did. Animal instinct and all that. Sitting atop Kan was Azula, arms crossed, smoke billowing out of her nose. She stared at Zuko then shifted her glare to the other boy.

“This wasn’t an open invitation, Zuko. Get rid of the kid,” she hissed. 

“No. Longshot’s coming with us. He’s an excellent archer and my only friend. I won’t leave him here,” Zuko growled back. It seemed that the boy had a backbone when it came to protecting others. Azula would remember that. Use that. 

Longshot gave Azula an inquisitive look for a few moments, nodded - more to himself than to the dragon - and started loading his belongings into Kan’s pack, seemingly more at ease with a talking ghost dragon than Zuko could have anticipated. But Zuko wasn’t going to spend more time asking questions he knew would simply be carried away by the wind. He got onto Kan’s back and helped hoist Longshot up behind him. Azula climbed up the horse with mild disgust and sat upon Zuko’s shoulder. 

“I hate cows,” she huffed at Kan as they started their journey into the darkness.


End file.
